Netherlands, Alkmaar Historical Medal 1773 the bicentenary of the relief of the city, Theodoor Victor van Berckel EF

Netherlands, Alkmaar, 1773 — Medal commemorating the bicentenary of the relief of Alkmaar, attributed to Theodoor Victor van Berckel

Obverse

The crowned personification of Alkmaar seated beside a trophy of arms, resting her left arm on a shield bearing the city’s tower. In her extended right hand she holds a sword bearing two laurel wreaths, directed towards rays of light above. Beneath her feet lies a male figure personifying Violence; a smoking torch lies nearby.

Legend: LUX VERITATIS VIRES DEDIT

In the exergue: TENEBRARUM FUROR / NIHIL VALUIT.

Reverse

Religion, represented by a veiled woman, seated between a monument and a cylindrical altar. She writes on the monument with a stylus, her left arm resting beside a book on the altar. Two intertwined serpents encircle the upper part of the monument.

Legend: AETERNAE MEMORIAE

In the exergue: LIBER. ALCMARIAE / Aº. BIS CENTESIMO / MDCCLXXIII.

Specifications
- Weight: 6,15 g.
- Diameter: 26,3 mm.
- Date: 1773, commemorating the events of 1573.
- Medallist: attributed to Theodoor Victor van Berckel; formerly attributed to Johan Michiel Lageman.
- References: Vervolg van Loon, VI (1861), no. 484, p. 71, pl. XLIV; A. de Witte, Le Graveur Théodore-Victor van Berckel: Essai d’un catalogue de son œuvre (1909), no. 32, p. 63.

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